Dementia Buddy
- Location Visiting people in their home or attending 'Mindful Moments' Group
Role: Dementia Buddy (Voluntary)
Location: People's homes and/or 'Mindful Moments' Groups
Hours: Flexible with a minimum 2 hours per week
Closing date: Rolling
Interview date: TBC
About the role:
A Dementia Buddy is someone who has a desire to improve the lives of people living with dementia and/or their carers.
As a Dementia Buddy you will make a positive difference to people living with dementia in your community, by giving them support and advice, a listening ear, a friendly face as well as a friendly voice to chat to. You will engage with individuals to provide information, support and motivation that will enable them to ‘Live Better’ with dementia. You will have a good understanding of dementia and will know how to engage positively with people living with dementia. You will promote dignity and respect and assist with activities to maintain cognitive abilities.
You will be allocated a ‘caseload’ who you will be expected to keep in contact with regularly. You will be a 'friend' finding out what the person likes to do and finding activities that can keep their mind active. It might be doing puzzles, playing dominoes, looking at old photos, listening to music - whatever works best for them.
Dementia Buddies are fully trained volunteers who have the qualities and skills that are necessary when engaging positively with people with dementia. Full training and support will be provided to enable you to carry out the role effectively.
Hours are flexible and will be agreed with the person living with dementia and/or their family and carers.
Dementia Buddies are vital members of the AmbaCare Solutions CIC team, performing tasks within their abilities and are not used to replace staff.
About you:
Do you want to support people living with dementia to address the issues which affect their wellbeing and help them gain more control of their lives?
Are you a good communicator who can engage effectively, in a kind and empathetic way with people living with dementia?
Are you organised with strong attention to detail and ability to problem solve?
Can you work within limits of strict confidentiality and as part of a team?
Would you find delivering an excellent service to enable people living with dementia to ‘Live Better’, fulfilling?
If so, and you are willing to receive training to enable you to deliver support and advice to people living with dementia, this could be the role for you. If you are interested in becoming a Dementia Buddy volunteer please contact us for more information on how to apply by calling Ruth Chauhan on 07974 727223 or by email ruth@amba-uk.org